Opinion: Dr Carl Rhodes, founder of Robust Policy and former director of RAND Australia, assesses how Defence can enhance its innovation strategy.
Anyone building a military strategy to achieve theatre, national, and/or multinational objectives requires defining ends, ways and means. Shrewd strategists are also keenly aware of the importance of understanding the environment in building any strategy. US Joint Doctrine 2-19 makes this point clearly: Strategy formulation must consider the strategic environment (e.g., geography, character, and relationship of political entities and their interests, and resources) subject to norms and constants present. These factors present themselves differently in each strategic interaction and exert considerable influence on a particular strategic situation.
The business literature around technology highlights the challenges many companies face in effectively innovating despite significant financial investments and management attention. Gary Pisano argues in the Harvard Business Review that many innovation efforts fail because companies lack an innovation strategy. Simply committing an organisation to innovation isn’t enough. Just as with military strategy, an effective innovation strategy requires committing to a specific goal, understanding the environment and aligning effort across the organisation.
